22 July, 2008
19 July, 2008
The collection grows
Denise's medal collection has outgrown the kitchen notice-board, so she's nicked my unused one (at my suggestion, actually) from upstairs.
18 July, 2008
16 July, 2008
Hooray! It works!
This means I don't have to go and fire up the PC if I think of something I want to say. I can just write it on my hand- held and upload it when I'm ready and in wireless (or strong phone signal) range.
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
Testing Mobile Blogger
This is just a quick test of a new piece of software I've just got for my Pocket PC, which allows me to compose blog entries on my PPC and then upload it to my blog later. Let's see if it works ...
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
11 July, 2008
Yet another new leg
After the first week, the new leg seems to be OK. It's not so tight, so I can get a thick terry sock on for more cushioning. In fact, I'm wearing one thick and one thin. I went out for a walk today, following my usual one-mile route. At the end, I was pretty tired and aching quite a bit, but there was no stump pain, and what aches there were in my hip soon went away.
I find it hard to remember that I was doing that route without any difficulties a couple of months ago, before I got that infection in my stump. I'm sort of back to square one, but things are looking very promising. The new leg has a much thinner cup because of a new moulding technique. Well, they had this system before my accident, but it's been out of use between then and now. Anyhoo, instead of a plastic moulding, it has a carbon-fibre laminate, which is lighter as well as thinner. The inner cup is also thinner and lighter, so the whole assembly looks much slimmer, enabling me to wear my jeans - as long as I don't need to check my leg: the cuff on my jeans is too narrow to allow me to roll the leg up for inspection purposes. Otherwise, it's fine, and it's nice to be able to wear something other than combats. Here, you thought I'd gone all Xtreme Sport culture didn't you?
09 July, 2008
Mum's plaque 30/6/08
James organised a marker plaque for Mum's burial plot at Mowthorpe so we could find which tree her ashes were buried under. I visited Dad's plot as well, on what would have been his birthday, as it happens. It was a bit of a somber journey home.
02 July, 2008
Hull, China (some quite personal bits)
I'm not sure who I'm writing this for, as the people most likely to read this, if any, were present for a lot of the time I am about to write about (well, I actually wrote it before this, and added this bit afterwards, but you'd never have known that if I hadn't said ... )
Denise ran the Humber Bridge half marathon last weekend, and managed to knock two and a half minutes off her last year’s time: not bad considering she was doubting whether she’d run it at all! We stayed in the same B&B she’d used last year when I was in hospital, and it was very nice with a large room and a large en-suite, about three times the size of the one we’d had in Nairn. It was very close to the Humber foreshore, and spectacular views of the Humber Bridge, which was, for about eighteen years, the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world (until the pesky Japanese got on the case with their Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge) (thank you Wikipedia).
It was great to see all my siblings at lunch on the Sunday. We had a nice laugh, despite Simon having been brought low by a dodgy bacon-and-sausage-and-mushroom-and-salmonella sandwich. James seems to be having some regrets over having taken the South Teeside job, as commuting form Market Weighton is making his days very long indeed. The hard thing is that he doesn't get so much time with Tom as he would would like. I feel for him, but he did need to do this to stay on his career track. He'd been very dedicated to that, and his tenacity and determination are admirable to a frightening degree. I am so proud of him and what he's achieved.
I did a lot more walking and standing around over the course of the weekend, for which I paid the price. By Sunday, the day of Denise’s run, the skin on the end of my stump was incredibly sore again. It was like walking on the edge of a knife all the time, but I think it was partly down to the socks I was wearing. Stupidly, I’d not made sure I had plenty for the weekend, and was down to the bottom of my sock drawer, and having to use the ones I normally didn’t wear because they weren’t particularly comfortable. The manufacturer had apparently changed the way they finished the ‘toes’, and there had been complaints about the seams not being flat, which had caused sores for some users. The hospital had stopped issuing them, but I think I got a batch of the rejects before they did. I’ve got some of the earlier style ones, which are much more comfortable, so I’m OK, but I’m going to have to blag some more from the hospital when I go tomorrow. I’m being very careful in the meantime, and yet again pinning all my hopes on a new leg.
The thing is, that the pain I got myself into wasn’t entirely down to the socks, and I have had to think very hard about whether I would be up to our China tour. I phoned the travel agents yesterday to check how much walking was actually involved. I was hoping that the warning that they had put against the tour, that it was not suitable for people with walking difficulties, was to put off 30 stone Americans who couldn’t walk 5 yards without breaking into a sweat. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. It did involve walking quite long distances each day, and there were quite a number of internal flights involved. There was no getting around it: we would have to postpone once again.
This had been something for both of us to look forward to this year, so making this decision has been very upsetting. Once again I did the self-pity thing, saying it was all my fault, etc., etc., so it’s not been a good couple of days. Denise wants me to phone a helpline and talk to someone else, instead of dumping on her, which I understand; but I don’t know where to begin. It’s basically down to how I’m feeling physically, and I don’t how ‘talking about my feelings’ can help. I don’t have ‘feelings’ about this: once the pain stops, I’m fine. If I could just get to a stage where I can walk whenever I want to, and can get back to work, Mr. Grumpy will disappear. Well, not entirely, because I’ve never been an entirely cheery person, and I have always had bad moods, all my life. Nothing to do with this.
So that’s it. The China Tour is off, and we’ve a week in the Isle of Wight to look forward to instead. Great. Not. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck … maybe I should tell someone how I feel. Oh, I just did. Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends …
It was great to see all my siblings at lunch on the Sunday. We had a nice laugh, despite Simon having been brought low by a dodgy bacon-and-sausage-and-mushroom-and-salmonella sandwich. James seems to be having some regrets over having taken the South Teeside job, as commuting form Market Weighton is making his days very long indeed. The hard thing is that he doesn't get so much time with Tom as he would would like. I feel for him, but he did need to do this to stay on his career track. He'd been very dedicated to that, and his tenacity and determination are admirable to a frightening degree. I am so proud of him and what he's achieved.
I did a lot more walking and standing around over the course of the weekend, for which I paid the price. By Sunday, the day of Denise’s run, the skin on the end of my stump was incredibly sore again. It was like walking on the edge of a knife all the time, but I think it was partly down to the socks I was wearing. Stupidly, I’d not made sure I had plenty for the weekend, and was down to the bottom of my sock drawer, and having to use the ones I normally didn’t wear because they weren’t particularly comfortable. The manufacturer had apparently changed the way they finished the ‘toes’, and there had been complaints about the seams not being flat, which had caused sores for some users. The hospital had stopped issuing them, but I think I got a batch of the rejects before they did. I’ve got some of the earlier style ones, which are much more comfortable, so I’m OK, but I’m going to have to blag some more from the hospital when I go tomorrow. I’m being very careful in the meantime, and yet again pinning all my hopes on a new leg.
The thing is, that the pain I got myself into wasn’t entirely down to the socks, and I have had to think very hard about whether I would be up to our China tour. I phoned the travel agents yesterday to check how much walking was actually involved. I was hoping that the warning that they had put against the tour, that it was not suitable for people with walking difficulties, was to put off 30 stone Americans who couldn’t walk 5 yards without breaking into a sweat. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. It did involve walking quite long distances each day, and there were quite a number of internal flights involved. There was no getting around it: we would have to postpone once again.
This had been something for both of us to look forward to this year, so making this decision has been very upsetting. Once again I did the self-pity thing, saying it was all my fault, etc., etc., so it’s not been a good couple of days. Denise wants me to phone a helpline and talk to someone else, instead of dumping on her, which I understand; but I don’t know where to begin. It’s basically down to how I’m feeling physically, and I don’t how ‘talking about my feelings’ can help. I don’t have ‘feelings’ about this: once the pain stops, I’m fine. If I could just get to a stage where I can walk whenever I want to, and can get back to work, Mr. Grumpy will disappear. Well, not entirely, because I’ve never been an entirely cheery person, and I have always had bad moods, all my life. Nothing to do with this.
So that’s it. The China Tour is off, and we’ve a week in the Isle of Wight to look forward to instead. Great. Not. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck … maybe I should tell someone how I feel. Oh, I just did. Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends …
21 June, 2008
Catch-up
A couple of weeks ago we went to see Nazareth at the opening night of the refurbished Alhambra theatre in Dunfermline. It was a great night – once I’d found a seat I could get into! The seats are the old fashioned type, and there was next to no knee room. I couldn’t get in comfortably because of my prosthetic, but we found an end-of-row seat, so it was all fine in the end. The guys were really on form, and the tunes were going round my head afterwards. It’s a really nice venue, with plenty of parking nearby, so despite it being on the far side of the firth of Forth, it was easier to get to, and home from, than going into Glasgow or Edinburgh.
My physio is going well, to the point where what I need to do now is to improve my fitness. I keep saying I need to do this, but it’s been so frustrating because when my hip is good, my stump is playing up, and when my stump is good, my hip is playing up. Anyway, my physiotherapist has done a great job of getting rid of all the muscle knots around my hip area (well, nearly all), so I started going to the gym again, working on this area to try to build up my strength. When went for the walk documented in the last post, I went round at almost my pre-accident pace, and was only slightly aching and tired at the end, which was very encouraging. Shortly afterwards, of course, my stump started getting sore, and this week I found a tiny blister right on the end. This is so frustrating: I’ve got to be able to walk and exercise to stop my hip problems from re-occurring.
Yesterday, I went back to the prosthetist for the follow-up to the appointment I wrote about last time, and convinced her that my stump had changed shape again, and that I needed another re-cast. I’ll pick that up in another couple of weeks. I’m really starting to get bothered that I’m not going to be able to go to China if this isn’t sorted out.
My physio is going well, to the point where what I need to do now is to improve my fitness. I keep saying I need to do this, but it’s been so frustrating because when my hip is good, my stump is playing up, and when my stump is good, my hip is playing up. Anyway, my physiotherapist has done a great job of getting rid of all the muscle knots around my hip area (well, nearly all), so I started going to the gym again, working on this area to try to build up my strength. When went for the walk documented in the last post, I went round at almost my pre-accident pace, and was only slightly aching and tired at the end, which was very encouraging. Shortly afterwards, of course, my stump started getting sore, and this week I found a tiny blister right on the end. This is so frustrating: I’ve got to be able to walk and exercise to stop my hip problems from re-occurring.
Yesterday, I went back to the prosthetist for the follow-up to the appointment I wrote about last time, and convinced her that my stump had changed shape again, and that I needed another re-cast. I’ll pick that up in another couple of weeks. I’m really starting to get bothered that I’m not going to be able to go to China if this isn’t sorted out.
Between my physio on Tuesday and my prosthetics appointment yesterday we took the opportunity to get away for a couple of days, as Denise is taking a little time off work just now, and drove up to Nairn. There are points around that coastal area where you can see dolphins from the shore, so we went out to see if we could see any. We were delighted when we saw loads, including a couple that started leaping out of the water: it’s the best sighting I’ve ever had.
The hotel we stayed at had a nice bar with some cask conditioned ales, and their food was very good indeed. The rooms themselves were a bit uninspiring: the en-suite was tiny, and I struggled to sit down on the loo, and I’m only 5’ 6”! Admittedly this was partly down to the inflexibility of my prosthetic, but it was really pathetic. And there were no shower gels or anything apart from hand soap: not what you’d expect from a hotel. The place was very clean and tidy, though, and the staff were excellent, so it was not like it was a disaster by any means.
We took a detour on the way back to visit the osprey centre at Loch Garton, and had a great sighting, with the female osprey sitting on the nest with a couple of chicks. While we were there, another osprey from another area over-flew the nest, causing the female to call out in alarm and shield her chicks with her wings. There are cameras on the nest, connected to monitors in the centre, but the centre is close enough to see the nest through binoculars, and it was great to see the osprey flying around, as well as the chicks on the nest.
There are various feeders next to the centre, and there were loads of small birds fluttering around; and because this area is inhabited by red squirrels, the odd unauthorised visitor could be seen stealing the nuts.
We’re visiting East Yorkshire next weekend, as D is registered for the Humber Bridge half-marathon, which she also did last year. We’re staying in Hessle, close to the race start point, so hopefully we’ll hook up with my siblings at some point over the long weekend. Denise hasn’t decided whether she will actually run the race or not; it will depend on how she’s feeling when we get there.
The hotel we stayed at had a nice bar with some cask conditioned ales, and their food was very good indeed. The rooms themselves were a bit uninspiring: the en-suite was tiny, and I struggled to sit down on the loo, and I’m only 5’ 6”! Admittedly this was partly down to the inflexibility of my prosthetic, but it was really pathetic. And there were no shower gels or anything apart from hand soap: not what you’d expect from a hotel. The place was very clean and tidy, though, and the staff were excellent, so it was not like it was a disaster by any means.
We took a detour on the way back to visit the osprey centre at Loch Garton, and had a great sighting, with the female osprey sitting on the nest with a couple of chicks. While we were there, another osprey from another area over-flew the nest, causing the female to call out in alarm and shield her chicks with her wings. There are cameras on the nest, connected to monitors in the centre, but the centre is close enough to see the nest through binoculars, and it was great to see the osprey flying around, as well as the chicks on the nest.
There are various feeders next to the centre, and there were loads of small birds fluttering around; and because this area is inhabited by red squirrels, the odd unauthorised visitor could be seen stealing the nuts.
We’re visiting East Yorkshire next weekend, as D is registered for the Humber Bridge half-marathon, which she also did last year. We’re staying in Hessle, close to the race start point, so hopefully we’ll hook up with my siblings at some point over the long weekend. Denise hasn’t decided whether she will actually run the race or not; it will depend on how she’s feeling when we get there.
04 June, 2008
Prosthetics Clinic (3rd June) and more
My prosthetist decided not to re-cast my leg this time. She's added some pressure pads onto the outside of the inner socket instead, which will deform it as it is inserted into the hard outer socket, to add support where it is needed. This method is used because the end of my stump is wider than the middle, and it would be impossible to get the socket on if it was sculpted to fit my leg precisely. She's also given me a more sticky suspension stocking. This goes on over the top of the prosthetic, and on up onto my thigh to keep the two together. The new one grips my leg a lot better and does not ride down as I am wearing it. This whole assembly prevents the natural tendency for the prosthetic to slide down when I swing my right leg forward when walking. I had been having the problem of it sliding as I was walking, and then the leg is a few millimetres longer than expected, and the foot catches the ground and causes me to stumble. It's amazing how much effect a few millimetres of slide has.
I went out for a walk in the afternoon; it was much more confidence inspiring, and I could walk at much more normal pace. Fabulous! And my hip wasn't affected quite so much. Now I need to build up my stamina, as I've kept saying, but I'll be able to do it by walking with more confidence, and without having to adapt my gait so much.
I also went to the opticians today. My eyesight hasn't changed much since two years ago, but I've ordered some nice new frames - a much better fit than the ones I have now.
I also looked at a new business account for my company, as Nat West are changing to flat-rate charging, which would be great for a big company, but for one the size of mine, it's just going to cost me. So I'm moving to Abbey, because, according to MoneySupermarket.com, they don't make any charges. I'm going to see the business manager tomorrow, to check out the services available. I prefer to use the Internet for banking, so I have to check that this is available, and that I can do everything I want to with it.
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